City 12/5 to outfox Rams ‘to nil’

Live on Skysports 2: Sat 17.20: Leicester’s home form makes them a banker at 7/10 (Blue Square) to beat Derby in the Championship.

Derby head to Leicester for a potentially feisty East Midlands showdown in fairly decent shape having followed up a victory over Birmingham last weekend with a respectable midweek draw against Championship leaders Cardiff but both of those results came at Pride Park and the Rams have lost their last three on the road, so they face an altogether tougher task at the Foxes’ King Power Stadium.

Moreover, Nigel Pearson’s men have a tremendous home record, having picked up seven victories in their nine assignments in front of their own supporters, conceding just six goals in the process so it’s easy to see why they’re Blue Square’s 7/10 favourites to boost their promotion hopes with a maximum haul.

Only Ipswich have managed fewer away goals than Derby, who come up against one of the meanest home defences so a City success ‘to nil’ catches the eye at 12/5 via 888Sport and at the other end, David Nugent is 9/2 (Ladbrokes) to break the deadlock, a bet we’d be keen to tackle were it not for the fact that the Foxes striker is struggling with a neck injury. He’ll be worth a flutter however, if he’s a starter.

Elsewhere in the Championship, in-form Watford are another home banker, at 8/11 with Stan James as they entertain struggling Barnsley and buoyed by their midweek win at Blackburn, Paddy Power’s 7/10 chances Bolton should be too good for Ipswich.

Cardiff meanwhile, still have a hundred percent home record and that doesn’t look under threat against a Sheffield Wednesday side heading to South Wales on the back of five straight defeats, a sequence that’s 4/6 (bet365) to be extended.